Business Reporter

The cutbacks by federal and state governments are starting to be felt in the employment market, with public sector job vacancies falling far below their historical average.

Job vacancies fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.7 per cent in the three months to November, driven by a 13.8 per cent plunge in available public sector positions, Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday showed. In comparison, vacant positions in the private sector slipped by 0.6 per cent for the same period.

Available government positions shrank to a seasonally adjusted 10,000, the lowest level since May 1998, making up just above 7 per cent of all vacancies.

Currency traders were unmoved by the data, with the Australian dollar remaining fairly stable ahead of the release of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes on Thursday morning. The dollar was buying US89.30¢ late Wednesday.

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‘‘The focus on employment reduction by the federal and state public sectors most probably means that this ratio will continue to slide,’’ Commonwealth Bank economists Michael Workman and Diana Mousina said. They added that public sector vacancies on average made up about 14 per cent of all vacant positions.

The reductions were felt most acutely in the ACT, where vacancies fell by 57 per cent to 300.

‘‘[It’s] likely to reflect a decline in public sector recruitment following the election of the new federal government,’’ Deutsche Bank chief economist Adam Boyton said, adding that on a national level, the ACT’s declines would only have a ‘‘tiny impact’’.

Economists said the bureau’s job vacancies data has tended to paint a more negative picture of the employment market as compared to other indicators.

While some analysts expect the unemployment rate to rise to about 6 per cent this year as the peak in mining investment reduces the demand for jobs, a weakening Australian dollar and the low interest-rate environment is expected to lift economic growth into next year and boost hiring.

The employment data came as a report by the National Australia Bank showed that online sales rose by 1.5 per cent in November after remaining flat in October. Australians spent an estimated $14.6 billion on online shopping in the year to November, NAB said.